Queen Mary I London Sites

Queen Mary I was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. When Henry divorced her mother to marry Anne Boleyn, she refused to accept Anne as her queen, and was downgraded from Princess to Lady and removed from the line of succession. She harbored resentment toward Anne and her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, for the misery caused to herself and her mother Katherine. Once Henry’s final wife Catherine Parr reconciled the family, Mary was added back the line of succession.

One she succeeded her brother Edward VI after overthrowing Lady Jane Grey, she attempted to restore England to Roman Catholicism, and burned 300 Protestants at the stake. This earned her the nickname “Bloody Mary.”

Queen Mary I Attractions in London

Winchester Cathedral

At 37 years old, Queen Mary wanted to focus on finding a husband and producing a male heir for England in order to prevent the Princess Elizabeth from inheriting the throne and making England a Protestant country again. Taking after her father, Mary decided to marry the Spanish Prince Philip based upon a portrait. She married Philip at Winchester Cathedral on July 25, 1544, two days after meeting him for the first time.